SEC. 303.

Section 1 of Chapter 819 of the Statutes of 2019 is amended to read: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The state has a goal to deploy 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025, and 5 million by 2030, respectively. (b) The California Energy Commission’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projection modeling tool has determined 250,000 electric vehicle charging stations, inclusive of 10,000 DC fast chargers, are needed by 2025 to support the 2025 zero-emission vehicle deployment goal. (c) To date, approximately 18,000 public charging stations, including approximately 2,700 DC fast chargers, have been installed in the state. (d) The California Green Building Standards Code specifies the standards for the construction of California’s buildings, including the infrastructure necessary to support the future installation of electric vehicle supply equipment. (e) The California Green Building Standards Code currently does not define electric vehicle charging stations as parking spaces, despite the fact that these electric vehicles can be parked at a charging space for a lengthy period of time. (f) Some local governments have required developers of electric vehicle supply equipment to construct additional parking spaces to comply with locally mandated minimum parking requirements. (g) The requirement to construct additional parking spaces can run counter to state environmental goals, is costly and often technically infeasible, and creates an artificial barrier to electric vehicle charging station deployment. (h) Some local jurisdictions, including the Counties of Los Angeles, Sonoma, and Sacramento, and the Cities of Stockton, West Hollywood, Santa Barbara, and Pleasanton, have enacted ordinances to count electric vehicle charging spaces as one or more parking spaces for purposes of required parking. (i) California must reduce unnecessary and arbitrary barriers to electric vehicle charging station deployment to support its 2025 and 2030 zero-emission vehicle deployment goals.